Showing posts with label strategy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label strategy. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Pai Gow Strategy That Works

Pai Gow is a truly fascinating game. There is something undeniably exotic about the manner in which it is played. And the name itself is just fun to say. Go ahead, say it a few times, out loud. Don't be a wimp. If you're feeling self-conscious, worried that the kids might hear you and either bust out in hysterics or tell your spouse you're having a nervous breakdown, just close the door and turn up the stereo to mask the sound of your voice.

Ready? Good, let's start. "Pai Gow... Pai Gow... Pai Gow..."

Continue this for as long as you want. It can be a quite soothing form of therapy. In fact, gambling lore claims that Pai Gow is actually an ancient form of sacred Zen meditation that some shrewd casino owner cynically turned into a money-based game of chance. Hey, are you done chanting yet? We have some important information to cover before this article runs out.

Now that we're back, let's take a look at some basic Pai Gow strategy. In game play, tiles are randomized on the table, and are stacked into eight stacks of four each. This is referred to as 'the woodpile.' Various ritualistic shuffles are made, rearranging the tiles in the woodpile in a number of different ways that result in a new woodpile. It is at this point that bets are made. Most commonly, seven players constitute a game. Each player's hand will be compared only against the dealer's hand to determine winners and losers.

Next, each player (including the dealer) is given four tiles with which to make two hands of two tiles each. The hand with the lower value is called the 'front hand,' and the hand with the higher value is called the 'rear hand.' If a player's front hand beats the dealer's front hand, and the player's rear hand beats the dealer's rear hand, then that player wins the bet. If a player's front and rear hands both lose to the dealer's respective hands, the player loses the bet. If one hand wins and the other loses, the player is said to" push," (meaning, tie) and receives in return only the money he or she bet.

Except for a few high-scoring exceptions, the best score a hand can have is nine. To find the value of a hand, simply add the total number of pips on the two tiles, and drop the 'tens place.' For instance, a 1-3 tile used with a 2-3 tile will score nine, since four plus five is nine. However, a 2-3 tile with a 5-6 tile will score six, and not sixteen. Why? Because you drop the 1 (which is in the tens place). Furthermore, a 5-5 tile with a 4-6 tile will score zero, since ten plus ten is twenty, and twenty reduces to zero when you drop the tens place.

Tricky, ain't it? That's all part of the fun. If you find yourself getting frustrated, just start chanting again (but now while operating heavy machinery).

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Comparing Abstract Strategy Board Games

Abstract strategy games are different types of board games which many of the world's favorite games classify as. They are games that are considered to have "perfect information," which means that everything that the other player does is instantly known. This allows for no misunderstandings due to a lack of communication and assures that every action will have a reaction. No parts of these games are left up to chance, meaning that no part of the game will rely on the effect of rolling dice or flipping a coin. Every action that is done is chosen by the player according to the circumstances and the player is in charge of every single action that takes place.

The games usually have either two players or two teams and are considered to be a head to head challenge. Checkers, Chess, Go, and Mancala are all considered to be great examples of abstract strategy games.

Some of the best abstract strategy games work as a series of puzzles that one player poses to the other. In a game that doesn't have random elements or hidden information, all there is to play off of is the direct opposition that one player presents to another. For this reason, some abstract strategy games are considered superior to others for the simple fact that they present more opportunity for opposition than others.

Tic-Tac-Toe could technically be considered as an abstract strategy game, but it's value is placed rather low for it does not present much difficulty during game play. Others, such as Chess, are considered to be some of the highest quality abstract strategy games available. Chess, with a clearly defined set of rules, a number of pieces to manipulate, and a rather large playing space, allows for nearly endless possibilities when playing a match against another player.

Othello, also called Reversi by some, is a game that brings two forces, black and white, into a battle of wits and strategy to find a victor. Played on an 8 by 8 grid, players either play as the black or the white tiles and try to change the face of their opponent's tiles by strategic placement. The game starts with two tiles of each color being placed in the 4 central squares, each token being directly diagonal to the match.

The first player to move will then take a token of their own color and place it on the board next to a token of the opposite color, trapping the opponent's colored token between two pieces of the first player's color. When a colored game piece becomes trapped between two opposite colors, that player gets to flip the trapped piece and change it into their own color. By doing this, they start to claim game tokens for themselves. When the second player gets a chance to play, they place one of their own tokens onto the board, trapping one or more tokens of their opponent and therefore changing those colors to their own.

Game play continues in this fashion, changing as many of the opponent's colors as possible, until no possible moves are left on the board. When this happens, the game is over and the tokens on the board are counted. The player with more colored tokens on the board is declared as the winner of the match. It is another prime example of an abstract strategy game. Nothing happens that isn't immediately know and everything can be reacted to with ease.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Mahjong Solitaire Strategy for Beginners

Based on what the rules are simple, one might think that a game of Solitaire is a simple game. Just remove the tile-matching, provided that the tile-matching tiles are not blocked by another.

Of course it is not so simple. If you just started playing Mahjong Solitaire, you may have noticed that, quickly remove only the first matching pairs to see if it will not last long before being able to remove any tiles.

ThisBecause if you do not remove the tiles on the right, then hang tiles.

For example, if 2 'A' tiles on top of each other, then one must be careful to be very, how to remove the tiles the other 'A'. If you remove the other pieces together, one above the other two are then left to end the game. It will not be able to select the bottom tile and will not be able to play in final

There are manymore opportunities for the analysis of the layout to ensure that this does not happen. But when you start, you do not spend hours analyzing the first move, you want to go!

Well, I have two strategies for the game that will help you, some Mahjong Solitaire. There will be an expert, but if you fight until the end of a game, should absolutely help.

The first thing is to try four of a card is playableonce. If you see this, you must immediately remove the 4 tiles.

Why?

Because you know that there are more of these tiles in the layout. Do not remove the tiles can leave other unplayable. * You can ensure that this step is correct and does not lock the game .*

Another strategy is relevant when 3 of a tile is visible.

If 3 stones are visible, and a tile does not block all the other tiles, remove the2 non-blocking tiles.

This is best illustrated with an example.

Suppose that some of the mahjong layout is so ...

AXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXA

AX

If the A, and if so, which ones?

Yes, you should. If you remove the A from the top row.

You should not use to 'AX' line, because the block is not other cards. You will have more tiles range issued by the A's from the top. There is alsoA block off the bottom, other possible A. It, however, that the above-A could block the final A.

The strategies described above will not let you win every game of Mahjong Solitaire, but should help them. If you have a game allowed, the information that you test, know that this will allow you to focus on strategy, rather than looking for matches.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Travel Blokus - The strategy game for 2 players.

Travel Blokus - The strategy game for 2 players.








gotoshop



Product Details


Travel Blokus - The strategy game for 2 players.Not for children under 3 years.Ages 5 to adult.








gotoshop